I can't tell you how many times I rewrote the lede to my recent review of Oklahoma! (now playing through March 3 at the 5th Avenue Theatre), before reverting back to my initial, uncomfortable reaction:

Kyle Scatliffe's portrayal of the menacing farmhand and unrequited suitor Jud Fry in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is a showstopper—and not always in a good way. The six-foot-five Scatliffe cuts an imposing figure, with a booming baritone voice to match, and he gives a big (sometimes too big) performance that more than succeeds in imbuing his role with a mix of creepiness, vulnerability, and malevolence.

But... well... he's, um, black—a daring bit of casting that forces an uncomfortable racial subtext onto underlying material that doesn't support the weight.

Honestly, I felt a little awful focusing on the race thing, especially given the mere 600 words I'd been allotted to review this otherwise excellent production. But it wasn't just me. There wasn't another audience member I spoke with who didn't immediately bring up the subject, often uncomfortably, that the only villain of the show is played as a towering, quivering black man (by the only non-white lead), evoking the worst racial stereotype of African American men as violent, sexual aggressors.

Anyway, read the whole thing. And if you've seen the show, I'd love to hear your take in the review's comment thread.